The Thai capital of Bangkok will close all schools for two weeks after the New Year holiday as it tightens measures to control a new wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the city said.

Thailand confirmed 279 new coronavirus cases, with the majority of them linked to a cluster among migrant workers in Samut Sakhon province south of Bangkok, and another cluster linked to illegal gambling dens that started in the eastern province of Rayong.

These new clusters have started to spread into Bangkok, prompting the city's administrator to tighten measures to curb the spread of the virus, Reuters reported.

“We begin to detect new cases linked to students and other service businesses,” said Pongsakorn Kwanmuang, the spokesman for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. "Therefore, we decided to close more places."